The holiday season is a time when movie fans will return to the best Christmas movies that they’ve watched for years. It's also the time that new holiday movies will debut, in hopes of becoming that next annual tradition. This year’s highest-profile new Christmas movie is Red One starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, and based on how many people with a Prime Video subscription have already seen it, the movie may be well on its way to achieving holiday classic status.
Red One has set a record as the most-watched Amazon MGM movie to stream on Prime Video. While that’s certainly a very specific record, 50 million views over its launch weekend is still nothing to sneeze at. The record-setting views are in addition to Red One’s solid box office run before hitting streaming. Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone
Critics have been split on Red One. Depending on your perspective, it's either a piece of Christmas fluff without much of substance, or it's a simple fun time that's exactly what the holiday season is about. Red One's streaming strength would imply that audiences are happy with the latter description.
Honestly, I've now watched Red One twice: once in theaters and once at home, and I think it's great fun. If you’re looking for a new Christmas movie, then this one has everything: two major stars, solid action and good laughs. It's not going to set box office records or win Oscars but it’s a fun movie that embraces the season, and that’s likely what a lot of people who are sitting down to watch a movie at home are looking for right now. It’s like a Hallmark movie, but with more kicking guys in the groin.
Johnson mentions the long shelf life that a movie like Red One can have, which is the goal of any major holiday release. Whether it’s a song or a movie if a piece of holiday entertainment is successful then people will return to it year after year.
A lot of people may have watched Red One on its release weekend, but there’s every reason to believe those viewing numbers will stay high throughout this Christmas season. Next year, we’ll find out if people return to it again. If they do, it really could become a holiday tradition for many.
It’s going to be a very merry Christmas for Dwayne Johnson. In addition to a strong showing for Red One, he also co-stared Moana 2, which has been the domestic box office champ every weekend since its release nearly a month ago. So often we see the movie business as a modern battle between theaters and streamers, but right now Dwayne Johnson is running both.
